game kid

“Forward...”

2012-03-07T01:53:00.001-05:00

I am still working on the game I mentioned last Early Afternoon Local Time Before Leap Day. The game (to quote another part of the FAQ I wrote so far)...

is an arcade-style, vertically-scrolling shoot 'em up implemented in SVG 1.1, XHTML 1.0, CSS 2.1, and ECMAScript 5 (a standardized version of JavaScript). It requires a browser (or some other agent) with support of those languages, as well as DOM Level 2 Core, HTML, and Events, to run. A pointing device (mouse, trackball, touchpad, etc.) is almost certainly needed to play, and a keyboard might be as well. It plays music and other sounds with XHTML objects, if supported by the agent, but sound is not necessary to play."

(What is perhaps my longest Blogger post ever follows. In short, the game is nowhere near complete or ready, and I haven't released any source or playable part of it.)

The game will be some form of GPL-Compatible free software as defined by the FSF. Since I've been working on it for a good while now and it's pretty much my Thing I Must Make Before I Die Or Worse, it almost certainly won't be public domain or CC0, or under an Expat-style or BSD license. For now, the license is GNU Affero General Public License (AGPL) version 3—not exactly universally popular, but it's a strong copyleft so I can maybe re-release it later under the GPLv2, or some less copyleft license, or add additional permissions, or something, as I feel more comfortable.

The game, as I hope to make it, will progress at least somewhat like (ok, maybe a lot like) Mega Man. After you choose one of four characters (each witches in a very vague and general sense, except for the one that definitely is a witch), you'd start in a lovely (or not, depending on my mad art skillz or lack thereof) grassland, with the occasional right-to-left stream and tree. There you'll practice your movement and shooting and bombing and such against some cannon fodder and a boss. After you get through that, you'd go back to a little forge cottage home-base headquarters thinger, where you'll see how to make stronger weapons with different spread and damage characteristics and such—and where you'll learn where you need to go to get the stuff to make them.

You see, there in that home away from Real Life™, you'll also choose between four element-themed stages, each with enemies and a boss of mostly (if not all) a single element. Blast them, gather their excellence of elemental essence execution or whatever, then go back and hope you have enough of the element to craft some new guns—er, staves, swords, daggers, or hammers. Your allowed choices depend on your character, and each yields different bullet patterns (the staff will fire a standard spread shot, and the hammer will pretty much make a small but potent hitbox in front of you).

You might need to play a stage more than once to get your desired weapon, and certainly to make one of your experience level after you've reached new ones from all the *clears throat* continuous firing (maybe when I finish the game I'll finally change my slogan to something I wrote for the game so I can stop mooching off of Brøderbund's manuals), or to create one of the special dream artifact weapons that each would be of entirely different elements and unlock a super-powered mega bomb attack that would use all of your mana points but be entirely worth it when you get to the chain of end stages, where you'll face more massive [redacted] bosses and a [redacted] who reveals that the [redacted] witch is actually [redacted] and other such juicy surprises and stuff. Whee.

Also the stages will almost certainly not be randomly-generated (sorry, roguelike fans), there probably will be no walking around The Guardian Legend-style between stages (though if I can pull that off with the same engine and as a development team of one, that would rock), and the gameplay will be more Raiden and less bullet hell. Well, except for the parts that are Raiden and bullet hell—good luck with those.

For now, besides not being feature-, creature-, stage-, or art-complete, there are some big honking bugs. You see, sound is quite inconsistently supported (with object or audio) so I may just take sound out; import of separate SVG into another SVG via XmlHttpRequest has problems in Internet Explorer 9 even with this importNode hack at A List Apart, so I'd have to find another way to do it or wait for IE10 (I couldn't get the...ick..."Consumer Preview" to run in VirtualBox) or just lump them all in together; and my attempt to use getIntersectionList to hit-test has proven...not so good in IE9 and Opera 11.61:

My Provisional Purple Test Creature shot a three-way spread of fiery yellow bullets at another one, and that one was "killed", but the bullet (lime rectangle) was actually well below the creature's white hitbox (pink square), so I'll have to investigate further or just make my own hitboxes at the internal game level rather than check the ones the SVG API gives out. (That's not even supported in Firefox 10.02 and caused general slowdown and mayhem when I tried it there, so I'll probably just code my own hitboxes.)

No, I didn't actually release it or any part of it yet, so don't ask.

The elements will soon call you to battle.

2012-02-28T13:21:00.000-05:00

I am working on a shoot 'em up. I have been for quite some time, but after many years I finally have a reasonably concrete idea of how it will turn out.

Still, very little of it is ready. I can only show a portion of its FAQ page, and even that part will very likely change. If I'm lucky I'll finish it within the decade...

"Did I suck that bad?"

2010-09-21T19:36:00.004-04:00

The New York Times reports "Summers to Leave Obama's Economic Team This Year" and summarizes the state of Congress thus:

Faced with unemployment that has hoovered near 10 percent and an increasingly disillusioned voter over the administration’s economic policies, Republican leaders in Congress, and a few endangered Democrats have sought to distance themselves from the White House before the midterm elections.

Emphasis mine, spelling theirs. We all know what happened when Hoover was in office.

Title quotes the town bards of Elona, a game I've been playing since I noticed Elona Shooter on Armor Games.

YouTube audio transcription.

2010-01-02T01:23:00.013-05:00

I rummaged through YouTube today for 1080p videos. I tried the stuff I usually watch (like clips of Mikie Hara) and stuff I watch less often (like movie trailers). Then I decided to check the PBS NewsHour channel, and watched an interview with Obama. I turned on the in-beta auto-captioner, and the captions are, generally, surprisingly good. There are some quirks, though, like at 6:33:

Barack Obama looks slightly to the right, with both eyebrows raised and his mouth slightly open. Below is a caption on two lines: "that forces insurace companies to sexually" and "bid for". The last line is cut off by a video control bar set to "06:34" of "10:08".

It might seem like I work for Google or stalk their product announcements or something. I read their blog and like Chrome's Bayonetta theme, but I don't work for them and (for various reasons) don't plan to.

“This will finish you!”

2009-12-09T06:45:00.012-05:00

Update, December 16, 2009: For now, I've worked around the sleep problem by moving the pad to another USB port. I still hope I can get it to wake up the PC from its original port.

I recently impulse-bought Windows 7, Street Fighter IV, extra RAM, and an "xbox circle" controller.¹ I'm pleased with all three² (and yes, I do like red-haired Viper, whom I quote in the post title; thanks in advance for asking). Part of me wishes that pictures in Windows 7 taken with pre-paywall Window Clippings wouldn't have "'dirty' glass" (Kerr's words, not mine) and that Eden's Aegis wouldn't crash miserably (complete with blue screen in some cases)³ in 7 since version 0.50, but those are minor things.

Though the controller is not as good for older PC games, it has a lot of buttons and is pretty easy to read from and set to vibrate. (I actually wrote a C++ input tester for it that vibrated in response to the side triggers, but got lost in other code I wanted to add to it and cleared it all out for an overhaul I may give within the next few decades.) It also can—or could, in my case—wake my PC from standby if I held the Guide button or any of its ten other digital buttons and I allowed the controller to do so:⁴

If the "Allow this device to wake the computer" option is enabled for a "HID-compliant game controller" in the Device Manager, it should be able to wake the PC.

Why could? I'm not entirely sure, but after adding the RAM (which did not affect controller wakeup) I decided to fiddle with RMClock's thermal throttling settings. I disabled the driver check so that RMClock would actually start, and ran it. The throttling worked, but I guess RMClock also overwrote ACPI tables or something, so the controller (or its port) is simply powered off during sleep. (No other device seems to be affected, but keyboard wakeup and Guide button wakeup put me in far different mindsets as I begin using my compy.) I'm still trying to get back the old behavior, so I'm now much less eager to use apps that use unsigned drivers—even if they are meant to make the PC faster and sexier—unless I know damn well what they do.

¹ I quote the great philosopher, investor, and entertainment critic Chadwardenn, of course.

² I'm not affiliated with Microsoft, Capcom, or any of their partners.

³ I guess it's a DirectX initialization gone horribly wrong. If Direct3D 9 is set to use software mode only, 0.50 and 0.90 are actually playable, but are slow and show garbage. Bah.

⁴ I am trying the object tag for the image. Newer browsers should show it, or alternate text, nicely.

Program updates! ... except not.

2009-09-14T21:28:00.006-04:00

I've had Apple Software Update for a while to get updates to the Safari browser. I saw it pop up not too long ago:

I have neither an iPhone nor any earlier version of the Utility, nor do I have QuickTime.

There has been earlier controversy about how new programs are placed in the updater. I think the separate "New software" list was the right thing to do (they have largely stuck to it in my experience), and I can't imagine they can accomplish monopolist goals with an "iPhone Configuration Utility", but vigilance is key to keeping programs from becoming disingenuous. (For those curious, Windows Vista doesn't list e.g. Windows Live Essentials separately in its Windows Update either, and I've set to "Ignore" the two Apple updates.)

Nvidia drivers.

2009-06-24T02:23:00.001-04:00

I am not a fan of the Nvidia display driver installer's old-ish look: it covers up the screen with a faux-maximized window and prints the software's name in big bold-italic Times New Roman. It always installs quickly, though, and much more so when I upgraded my card's driver from version 185.85—to my pleasant surprise (and as Microsoft has promised Vista would allow for years), installing 186.18 didn't restart the rig, as a few others have noticed.

Well, sort of. It does restart Windows Explorer, at least, and that nukes taskbar icons of programs that don't know better. A simple logoff and logon (relogon?) fixes that in a flash, and lets me finally enjoy Vista's "no-reboot" boast.

Y. Signal.

2009-06-11T15:09:00.004-04:00

So I've been looking at the local FCC DTV reception maps, and noticed the gain/loss maps linked on the left side. For WNBC and similar stations, expect bad signals north and northwest of the city when the "transition" occurs tomorrow.

In less important news, we're all gonna die!!!

(Yes, the title is a reference to a video game.)

Tetris Friends.

2009-06-09T22:26:00.005-04:00

I learned about Tetris Friends through Neave.com; Neave made a variant that is now one of its games. It's damn addictive.

I linked my TF profile in the "Me on the Web" section.

Show me the Honey.

2008-08-08T04:15:00.004-04:00

Having already realized that “Skyscrapers Jihad” was a bad translation for the name for an anime episode that actually shows Honey in Hurricane form crashing a small airplane into a giant skyscrap—er, skyship, I was checking Cutie Honey's edit history, like any ~~completely screwed-up, solitary~~normal person would do, and noticed the Chinese Wikipedia's version was added. I checked the article and decided to use the Google's +5 Wand of Comprehension on it.

Now, I know it's in beta, and despite its aforementioned “Skyscrapers Jihad” oddness it is easily my favorite Web translator, but...“Jerry Maguire soldiers”??? What?

I'm not sure I want GOOG to correct that, though. I can easily imagine a hot animated girl willing to change into seven (or more) forms to defend the honor of Tom Cruise—weirder things happen in cartoons. Besides, for Jessica Calvello to say “Sometimes I'm a beautiful secretary. Sometimes I'm a warrior in gleaming white armor. And sometimes I'm the loudest fighter pilot on couches!” would probably create a brand-new genre of transgender comedy or something.

“you want security just go mac.”

2008-01-28T21:58:00.001-05:00

Through slashdot, I got what they call "lulz".

Cut__ Honey

2007-12-16T19:08:00.004-05:00

Update (April 28, 2010): This is at least partially obsolete. I just call them all "Cutie" now.

How does one say キューティーハニー in English? Apparently it's no easy task.

Wikipedia's article transliterates the title as Kyūtī Hanī . I've seen everything from Cutey Honny to Q-tey Honey for various works, but most use Cutey Honey, others Cutie Honey, and still others "ANIME SUCKS GB24CHAN BECAUSE INSULTING PEOPLE'S METHODS OF ENTERTAINMENT OVER INTERNET TUBES IS FUNY LULZ!!!!!" I'll leave your personal methods to you, but mine shall be:

For the franchise in general or the 1973 series, Cutey Honey or Cutie Honey interchangeably.
For the 1973 manga and its 1992 follow-up, I'll use The Ultimate Manga Guide's spellings.
For the 1994 OVA and キューティーハニーF, Cutey Honey until either gets remastered to say otherwise. (Part of me wants a fully shaded HD remake of the former…)
For the 2004 movie and the current series, Cutie Honey as they specify.
For anything else after 2004, Cutie Honey unless it says otherwise.

As for the opening song lyrics, I've noticed some write the first lines as "Kono koro hayari no onna no ko" and "Oshiri na chiisana onna no ko". The last page of what is apparently a 1982 print* of volume 2 of the 1974 2-volume version of the original manga (that's a mouthful) suggests "Konogoro …" and "Oshiri no …", respectively.

ADV's New Cutey Honey's "Essential Anime" release corroborates that, and the original anime agrees (with respect to the second part anyway).

Feel free to comment on your own transl[iter]ation beliefs. Stupid comments get trashed accordingly.

*See also Wikipedia's article on the Showa Period, through which I finally got a clue on the date notation after lots of fruitless searching. I fail at languages.

Eden's Aegis

2007-12-14T21:07:00.003-05:00

A game that I found via Shoot The Core. Yesterday x.x updated the game to version 0.11, correcting a few misspellings and apparently changing how many items/pellets/whatever-they-are are dropped by larger enemies.

A replay is available.

“...and BOOM!”

2007-11-14T00:18:00.002-05:00

So I was playing Warning Forever with some rather nice custom settings to see what sorts of monstrosities I could get to.

The replay is just my ship disappearing in a poof after that, since if there's a way to set the game to take full-game replays over multiple stages, I didn't know it then (nor do I want to record a big MPEG or something every time I play a game...it's rough on the frame rate...).

ARCANACRA!

2007-09-14T12:36:00.000-04:00

Via the Simple Inspiration diary-blog-thing. You can play it on their site too.

Windows Live Writer Beta 2 test.

2007-06-17T03:50:00.001-04:00

This post was mostly written using the very beautiful-looking (if not quite perfect) second beta of Windows Live Writer, available for download.

I especially love the splash screen, editing in the blog's style, and the Web Preview (View->Web Preview or press F12).

Long story short: I'll be using it.

(Via the Blogger dashboard; screen shot taken with Kenny Kerr's very awesome Window Clippings program.)

...but we were invaded by evil life-forms.

2007-05-06T11:54:00.001-04:00

I like DeeJyyIncompetent's mixes.

Daddy likes.

2007-03-16T03:06:00.000-04:00

Crappiness of MySpace in general aside...yum.

(Fun fact: she had 666 comments when I first saw the page...)

Comparison of expansions of Grothendieck's Axiom.

2007-03-08T12:53:00.000-05:00

A history of the ever-shrinking grothprim theorem of Metamath.

[Insert Paris Hilton phrase here.]

2007-02-17T00:36:00.000-05:00

This made me smile.

“You wouldn’t like me when I’m angry.”

2007-01-24T21:23:00.000-05:00

Edit: Google Images (mentioned below) has returned to its old full-data layout, for me at least. Thank you, GOOG.

So I was wondering who the kinda-hot special guest judge on some singing-competition-type show I was watching was*, and instead of simply checking the official site I decided to use the Google. (Cyndi Lauper was the first name I thought of. I've no idea why either.)

NOT COOL.

I know that Google likes fiddling around with stuff to see what selected users like (2005 called, they want my comment back), but I don't like the idea of having to hover over a thumbnail to see what images are from dead sites** or dangerous sites (much worse)...or maybe I'm just lazy. The worst part: merely tabbing to the desired thumbnail won't reveal the size and location info.

This, on the other hand, is cool:

Apologies to Bill Bixby.

*By the way, if my eyes, this MSNBC story, and the great wiki that knows a lot if not quite all serve me right, it was Sager tonight.

**Google, please mark an image as "possibly dead" or something if the image comes up as "not found". I promise I won't sue you for using that idea. On the contrary, it would save you guys some bandwidth and lessen the need to scrounge up money from everyone and everything if things go downhill.

Blow MOAR sh*t up.

2007-01-02T22:04:00.000-05:00

RAY-HOUND v~~0.90~~0.91 is like v0.80 but with high score list, instant-replay, more options, new-game checkpoints every 10 stages, the apparent ability to ram and then "capture" enemies with the left mouse button—after which you can flail them around to somewhere else—and...cowbell please...SOUND!

My high score's below.

Replays (7z archive, 23 KiB)

New York Times: Redacted Version of Original Op-Ed

2006-12-22T21:36:00.000-05:00

We only have 62,040,610 people to blame. (Via UseMyComputer.)

Titanion.

2006-11-26T22:28:00.000-05:00

Just what one expects* from Kenta Cho. (Via Independent Gaming.)

*assuming your expectations are high and of sheer awesomeness.

Quantized Blaze.

2006-11-21T13:59:00.000-05:00

I played a game of Quantized Blaze yesterday. Results of that Normal Game below.

Good one.

2006-11-12T20:28:00.000-05:00

I've gotta implement Ankou's method soon.

Should've known earlier.

2006-11-11T20:59:00.000-05:00

I wish I'd known about Professor Joyce's pages long ago, back when I had trig classes. That way I would've actually appreciated what the trig functions mean.
The whole Slashdot itsatrap tagging thing is getting out of hand. No amount of hostile labeling can measure up to the Admiral's line anyway.

Dear eB_y users...

2006-11-08T19:35:00.000-05:00

Stop putting your _x digital zoom digital cameras in the _x optical zoom categories. It pisses me off.

Sincerely,

P.S. Please, eB_y, make your URLs decent. You know, readable, like those new "MyWorld" sites. Not like the search pages. Change those URLs between now and quickly.

P.P.S. The blanking is mine, not by Blogger or Google. If they did something like that, why I'd...I'd...make a ytmnd about it or something. No free lunch et cetera.

GRADLE-UNISON.

2006-11-04T00:18:00.000-05:00

In this weird Hello World Project game, you move and then left-click your mouse (or press the Z key) to move your whatever-you-call-that-spinning-thing across a board. The longer you move between each click, the stronger the shock wave you make after the click. The shockwave destroys enemies and gets you points.

Harmotion.

2006-10-29T01:32:00.000-05:00

Harmotion is truly a dream game: a beautiful, multiplayer shoot-em-up. (I'm ranked 69 as of post time.)

(via Shoot The Core)

"Create Your Own" OpenSearch provider.

2006-10-23T21:51:00.000-04:00

The Windows Search Guide now has a little form to make your own IE7 search provider, using a URL and a name. That ought to allay one or two complaints.

It can add the provider and/or return an XML OpenSearch file, like this.

(On a side note, the guide also now has the Google logo next to the Google option. Said logo was not there just days ago.)

ASCIIMathML test.

2006-10-23T12:11:00.000-04:00

On certain browsers, `e^(i*pi)+1=0` will display as a nice math formula.

In a time long ago...a time of myth and legend.

2006-09-29T17:48:00.000-04:00

A decade ago, Super Mario 64 was released.

The most powerful woman in the world?

2006-09-20T16:42:00.000-04:00

Lindsay can make even digiuser update a site.

The pictures aren't exactly new, but I didn't see them clean at those big sizes until now. It's also cool to see only her on the main page.

(and yes, I know that Aguilera, not Lohan, was the first after digiuser's long time off. I never said Lohan was the first. I just noted that those pics actually got digi to update the site.)

It's a series of TUBES (and PNGs).

2006-09-01T09:44:00.000-04:00

As IEBlog notes, Microsoft's "Zentek" demo is finally online for all to see. I'm hoping that they optimize the better PNG support to match the speeds of Opera 9. Also gamma.

~~I'm hoping the Series of Tubes dance remix wins moheevi's remix contest~~The Tubes mix got an honorable mention and a spot on the YTMND Soundtrack. Sounds good to me.

Blow sh*t up.

2006-08-24T19:55:00.000-04:00

I was checking the database for some shooters. It had the usual meh games. It also had two games of a BattleBlade series, which were good, and a great game called Hyperwars (I like its Gameboy-style graphics and it's even a bit funny).

When I saw Ray-hound in the list, though, I forgot about those three fast.

Hikoza.T.Ohkubo ("Hikware") made a game before Ray-hound, called Warning Forever, which I love for the gradually-tougher-bosses battles. Ray-hound is immensely different from that. There are increasingly difficult levels here, yes, but that's where the similarities end. You can't shoot, but you can use the left mouse button to slingshot dangerous rays of light back at cannons that launch them, or "flick" the mouse to boost the ship and reflect those rays. It's different from many games I've played, and while it does feel very different and weird at first, it's extremely fun, and even the deadly rays are a nice sight for sore eyes (though the other graphics are above-average at best).

No joystick is needed for the mouse-only, Windows-only game. It doesn't seem to have sound, instant-replay, or many options yet, but this also seems to be the first public version of it, and like wine, Windows, or anything else (except maybe Sony), it will certainly mature and age gracefully. I'll definitely be watching Ray-hound closely—I love it.

Superstar!

2006-08-24T15:17:00.000-04:00

I and other YTMNDers took a survey. The "little surprise" we got (edited for a nice transparent background by me)...

...and what's a post called "Superstar!" without someone else's funny Slashdot reply?

Oh, and IE7 RC1 is up. Note the visibility of the provider's name in the search box, not unlike Opera and Firefox.

All it would really need now to match them there is the icon...and maybe some other stuff I don't care about.

Neave TV.

2006-08-11T16:12:00.000-04:00

Sure, Neave has jumped on the Firefox-shill bandwagon. Sure, he's taken down his extremely awesome blog, and Namco made him similarly withdraw his absolutely incredible version of Pac-Man. Sure, I wish he would have both the Pinwheel and its replacement, the Strobe, at once. Sure, Adverb will certainly never like his artsy Flash stuff and his Britishness (though for that I pity him more than I agree with him).

His Neave.tv, however, lets me forgive him for all of those faults (especially considering "Bush for Peace" and "Massive Viral Outbreak"). Well, all except for the Firefox shilling.

"It's your pet, the freakin' head-humper!"

2006-08-11T13:54:00.000-04:00

I thought this comment, while obvious, was still hilarious—especially after finally ending the game in question yesterday.

It does have an "abysmal ending". (I love it though.)

One Side, One Edge

2006-08-06T20:45:00.000-04:00

Really, abroerman's "One Side, One Edge" is perhaps the most beautiful thing I've seen. Even when counting Lohan.

Umbilic torii, to me, are like chocolate bars.

Eviludy does it again.

2006-08-05T09:11:00.000-04:00

I liked the original Elf Sim Date RPG so I was pleased to see a sequel on Newgrounds' front page.

Fantine is utter hotness there, as before.

Competing to achieve maximum suck.

2006-08-02T20:32:00.000-04:00

My favorite comment to this Slashdot story is this lovely one, by someone who wishes to remain nameless.

TGL password generator.

2006-07-27T22:24:00.000-04:00

I found a password generator on GameSpot for a little game called The Guardian Legend. It was made some months ago, it seems. Whoever made it (one Jonathan Dale Kirwan apparently) wins many internets from me.

By the way, my future gravatar will be based on a scan of the August 2006 GQ (UK) from lohanpictures.com. Visit its sister site, LOHANonline.com—it's cool stuff.

You're on notice.

2006-07-15T16:05:00.000-04:00

The Hot One's birthday.

2006-07-01T22:30:00.000-04:00

Lindsay Lohan will be 20 years old in less than a half hour.

Internet Explorer 7 Beta 3.

2006-06-29T13:33:00.000-04:00

Internet Explorer 7's third and "final beta" is here. Among other things, this version shows the URL destinations of some buttons in the status bar when they are hovered over. Toolbar buttons have more consistent looks also.

Aina, a model from Norway.

2006-06-28T23:50:00.000-04:00

Look, I don't care if her last name's Tambini or Timbiani. After seeing this post and a little searching, I'm betting a 50/50 chance of me changing my gravatar very soon.

Aina, it was love at first sight.

More student aid, yay.

2006-06-27T18:23:00.001-04:00

I'm glad the US is now offering two special grants.

Still, if it's about national security, they should've offered it five years ago. You know, when we needed it. I'd pay any amount to defend the country I govern.

Consolas.

2006-06-27T18:23:00.000-04:00

Microsoft is offering its Consolas font for download.

digg has a story on this and other fonts.

Font handling in browsers.

2006-06-14T00:09:00.000-04:00

In Windows, try downloading Neuropol X from Typodermic. Put it in your Fonts folder. Notice the change on the top of the page?

Even if IE sucks rocks, it at least knows when new fonts are installed. Opera can't do this (when Neuropol X Free is deleted, hovering over the heading changes its font to Arial—ugh!) but at least it works on almost any OS. (I'd say something about Firefox or Bon Echo...but their shills just scare me.)

I'm trying to make a better version of Easy Notify Icon Maker (Roxio didn't warn me or anything, but the original name did sound like one of their works¹). Stay tuned. http://gamekid.notlong.com/easyicon/2/ will get you there once it's up, http://gamekid.notlong.com/easyicon/1/ will get you the original, and http://gamekid.notlong.com/easyicon/ will get you the latest.

¹interestingly, there is not a single trademark with "Easy [blah-blah-blah] Creator" listed on their site. I'd rather not test their legal prowess in any case.

I probably won't restore the Icon Maker download for a while.

YeAAAAAuh.

2006-06-05T16:40:00.000-04:00

I put up a second version of the Icon Maker, with full source code and installer sources.

Use 7-Zip, TUGZip, or other programs that can work with a 7z file, to unwrap my gift to you. ;)

See this previous post for more info.

The easy way to heaven (or as some call it, ABA Games).

2006-06-05T02:06:00.000-04:00

You're welcome.

Grid Wars.

2006-06-04T01:41:00.000-04:00

Via Shoot the Core's "PC database", I found a nice shooter called Grid Wars. I love it.

So how do I thank the author? Simple: I create my own Gfx Set for the game based on The Guardian Legend.

The set is in gwtglgfx.zip, an 88.3 kilobyte zip file. (Usage instructions are included in its "readme.txt" file. Check the download for viruses before further use.)

This whole freaking post is out of date. Grid Wars was taken down after an e-mail from Bizarre Creations of Geometry Wars fame, and I probably won't restore my download either.

Schweet.

2006-05-27T13:53:00.000-04:00

I think that anyone would be impressed if, after four pitiful digg story submissions, they struck gold with their fifth. Am I thankful? To quote Greg Roelofs, "you betcha."

I've always enjoyed Neave's site, and knew that his completion of his Frogger would be huge and hugely cool news.

Touch-screen feedback.

2006-05-18T12:49:00.000-04:00

Or to quote templest, “Finally! I can feel what it's like to touch boobies without having to steal mannequins from Sears!”

I need money.

2006-05-18T00:27:00.000-04:00

No. Really. ~~I need money~~.

Every time a Web site shuts down...

2006-05-17T21:01:00.000-04:00

...an angel dies.

At least Digiscans says goodbye with a few parting gifts.

Once upon a time, I was scared of the new Supreme Court Justices.

2006-05-15T15:05:00.000-04:00

After this ruling, I love them.

Eolas, you got off lucky, and just in time, that day. Still, please die, go bankrupt, and burn in hell with the other trolls (in no particular order).

U.S. Restores Diplomatic Ties to who?

2006-05-15T12:28:00.000-04:00

I thought that Kung Fu master had issues. I guess the Bush Administration is running out of scapegoats.

About me.

2006-05-15T01:08:00.000-04:00

I am from the Bronx, home of a baseball team, Poe, and the like.

The best way to know me is to know what I've said in my posts. Read away.

This site is just that: some posts, some links to things I like, and stuff of that sort.

I like Lindsay, pizza, cookies, Late Night, and shoot 'em ups (Shoot the Core links to some nice ones).

I don't like patent trolls, athletes with inflated egos or tempers, or Tom Cruise. Also, Firefox shills suck (but version 3 is looking rather nice and is set to pass Acid2, so I'll be trying the final product of that). I tend to do or buy things when I'm not told they're the right thing for me.

Kung-Fu Master makes his what disappear?

2006-05-14T01:16:00.000-04:00

Seriously...what the hell???

Massive blunders.

2006-05-12T12:42:00.000-04:00

National Puerto Rican Day Parade, Inc. calls this year's parade theme "Boricuas...We Vote..,We Count". Ellipsis typo aside, I like the idea there. However, in New York, WNYW-5 and WWOR-9 they just announced (on TV; I'll get a Web source as they come) the parade would be switching from WNBC-4 to those channels.

Translation: Parade gets twice the exposure, on two Murdoch-owned, Republican-loving¹ channels I hate, and I don't watch it anymore!² Good job!

While we're talking about the evils of a select few Republican lovers, here's a news story that should sound familiar.

¹I don't expressly dismiss people for being Republican lovers, but when an entire news corporation gives so much money and airtime and forgiveness for such a tyrannical party, it has the same effect on me that console games have on inkdrinker. I just want to downvote everything like he does³.

²I really should see the parade in person...but I veer from the rant's point entirely. I've lost all support for the parade's cause.

³I say "like he does" because I'm not him. Don't start going "OMG gamekid is teh inky DWONVOTEZO!!!" or I'll have to hurt somebody.

Google Trends.

2006-05-10T17:12:00.000-04:00

New Google Labs Product, "See what the world is searching for."

Interesting findings there: Mexicans and Filipinos really like Lindsay Lohan.

E3: Image of the REAL "light gun" peripheral for the Nintendo Wii

2006-05-10T16:00:00.000-04:00

IGN got a great shot of the Real "light gun" add on for the Wiimote. It is complete with an analog stick and of course...trigger

I love it.

read more | digg story

Best icon ever.

2006-05-09T21:51:00.000-04:00

I went to see the classic Wii controller (via digg) and noticed a comment, linking to a site with, quite possibly, the best favicon ever.

It's about time, Web guys.

2006-05-09T21:39:00.000-04:00

The first W3C Recommendations in over a month.

MIT students will sink, or graduate...

2006-05-08T21:34:00.000-04:00

MIT students need to pass one requirement before starting their $100k+ jobs... The test is easy for most, but impossible for some...

Glad I don't go.

read more | digg story

Dad Fed Up With Computer Games Shoots Son's Monitor

2006-05-07T19:24:00.000-04:00

Joseph Langenderfer is charged with attempted murder, after authorities said he fired a shot at the computer monitor. According to police, Langenderfer and his 22-year-old son Tim argued about how much time the young man spent playing computer games.

Web-enabled light-emitting-diode signs are awesome.

2006-05-07T17:32:00.000-04:00

Before anyone asks...

2006-05-07T01:56:00.000-04:00

I'm not Lindsay Lohan, as my photo may suggest. I do like her work and her hotness though.

Besides, girls don't exist on the internets, remember?

The sad truth (or, Boy that Times is on a roll!).

2006-05-05T20:29:00.000-04:00

Sadly, I believe this editorial.
C.I.A. director Porter Goss must now not let the door hit himself. May Bush someday follow him closely on the way out.

Idiot World's 8-bit Gamer Test.

2006-04-24T20:16:00.000-04:00

I is dying of CRT radiation. I got 11/16 on the 8-Bit Gamer test. Take the test!

(without cheating, of course.) Thanks in advance to idiotlarry on digg.

A quick survey. Twenty seconds at most.

2006-04-20T09:55:00.000-04:00

Answer yes, no, or don't care.

Do you think the C.I.A. has secret prisons in Europe?
Are the recent European probes proof they don't exist?
If you answered don't care for 1 or 2, is it because you are enjoying Kate Moss's camera ads too much to notice?

I am still here.

2006-04-18T04:18:00.000-04:00

No, I'm not dead, though my ~~sense of sarcasm~~ is at an all-time low.

As loqqq posted on digg, TrueCrypt was updated today to version 4.2. Making an encrypted volume on your drive with it can help keep your sensitive files secure--and who doesn't like more security?

See you at the impending draft!

Nod your head.

2006-04-02T20:35:00.000-04:00

In the other YTMND I mentioned, Shakira tells the truth.

Epilepsy warning.

2006-04-01T12:14:00.000-05:00

My first YTMND, riemaaann, may pose severe health risks. View with extreme caution.

My next one will probably misinterpret a very popular song.

While we're talking about posts...

2006-03-31T22:40:00.000-05:00

American AC in Paris has an opinion on that other site's redesign.

Also, Metamath has an important update on a year-old theorem.

My favorite digg post in a while.

2006-03-26T03:34:00.000-05:00

AdamCo speaks the truth on those who steal from Apple.

Take note of this development.

2006-03-24T04:55:00.000-05:00

My favorite parts of Notepad++ are the “Switch Dialog” button on the Find/Replace dialog, and the ability to add custom languages. Emacs might be less constrained with the latter, but I'm not a fan of that.

They say March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb, but to me it just feels like February was yesterday.

The gravatar, i.e. proof that I do exist.

2006-03-23T21:00:00.000-05:00

In visual browsers, my gravatar is around the beginning or top of this page.

Hi, I'm game kid, and I'm a Conan O'Brien addict.

2006-03-15T12:45:00.000-05:00

Max Weinberg playing “Fighter”, super-hot Jamie-Lynn Sigler, and a raving red-haired lunatic...what's not to love about yesterday's Conan?

All this fresh off of Pi Day. More posts as soon as I care.

All right, I'll do it too.

2006-03-11T13:52:00.000-05:00

I'll admit it. I'm a stubborn defender of the things I like. Sometimes, though, technology is so good that it simply conquers its competition. With that in mind, I shall finally do my part to promote the best, and hopefully leave you feeling more confident as you browse the Web.

Try Firefox. You'll like it.

Thoughts and plans on the, uh, internets.

2006-03-04T13:55:00.000-05:00

Sabrina3363's...views of the government, as of January. She takes an interesting...position on the, er, lengths Bush and his colleagues go to prove their points.

Side note: Bush was right. There will be many, uh, internets, like one in China and another in Washington.

Golf—hardcore Russian style!?

2006-03-04T13:35:00.000-05:00

Now this risky drive is a stupid idea.

Salma Hayek? Yes please!

2006-03-04T12:15:00.000-05:00

digg's santiago1 wouldn't mind seeing Salma Hayek in a bathroom like this realistic, big-windowed one.

Considering how she looked on yesterday's Tonight Show, I sure wouldn't mind either.

1 million Wikipedia articles? Sweet!

2006-03-01T23:55:00.000-05:00

The millionth article, as per the Wikimedia Foundation.

That's a lotta users.

2006-02-28T22:29:00.000-05:00

The English Wikipedia has over one million registered users. Now for what to do once the millionth article appears...

“Borderline” to “Broken Heart”.

2006-02-26T22:34:00.000-05:00

MTV's Overdrive is what MTV was about to be, until someone in a Simpson family ~~(you know, Jessica)~~who shall remain nameless decided to push her reality TV show.

Countdown.

2006-02-25T19:45:00.000-05:00

Watch the number of articles on the English Wikipedia. It's nearing 1,000,000. Notice also the number of users.

Automagic transmission.

2006-02-25T18:15:00.000-05:00

The main page posts are now auto-generated. Expect a bit more posting. ~~The feed is still mostly manually typed.~~The RSS feed is now automagic too.

Not much time for posting.

2006-02-25T15:05:00.000-05:00

Yes, the US Olympic effort was flat. (I prefer Torino though.)

Another thing: “[Internet Explorer] Beta 2 will be released in the first half of 2006, with the final release in the second half of 2006. That's as specific as we can be at this point.” I hope so. My site is only made for IE7 and above, and other major graphical browsers. Should be viewable in text browsers though.

“It could be connected the PBX.”

2006-02-22T10:45:00.000-05:00

Aren't faulty translations great? Of course, if you're really a English-loving bigot, there's Engrish.com.

~~I notice some more Windows updates are coming.~~Nevermind, but I was half-right; Windows Defender updates using the same taskbar-icon updater.

Chew on this.

2006-02-22T09:15:00.000-05:00

America: where people eat well...or we make them.

In other news, Mayor Mike Bloomberg wants to keep another guy from playing Solitaire.

“ZOMG@! iZ teh csSS!!!1”

2006-02-21T17:30:00.000-05:00

So said one berean on digg.

(Side note: this proof by contradiction thingy should help things a lot.)

Signs of the Times (and the Post and the News too)

2006-02-21T14:20:00.000-05:00

You gotta love a government that magically turns public knowledge into secrets, allows the UAE to take over our ports despite bipartisan backlash, and still has time to charge its citizens with terrorism. May God bless the U-nah-ted States of America.

⊢ (A ∈ ℂ → (exp ‘(-i · A)) = ((cos ‘A) − (i · (sin ‘A)))).*

2006-02-20T12:45:00.000-05:00

That's the exponential function in terms of sine and cosine. Actually, a similar, more familiar proof has been there for a while, but I still wonder: Is a Metamath-checked proof of e^{i π}+1=0 near?

*A full Unicode font is your friend here.

Winds of change.

2006-02-19T10:40:00.000-05:00

Neave ~~plans to redo~~has re-done his website, but I can already see hints of change in his Flash Earth. Gone are some of the soft fonts of old, replaced with a more Courier-ish title on the welcoming dialog, and a slightly different logo and favicon.

RaidenX.

2006-02-19T02:08:00.000-05:00

Why “game kid”? I like me some games, especially utterly beautiful games like RaidenX. It''s (still) ranked #3 among Newgrounds games as of post time.

Image editing, for free.

2006-02-15T19:17:00.000-05:00

The GIMP can make nice translucent backgrounds like mine.

Online job application.

2006-02-15T16:48:00.000-05:00

I hope this Web application* and similar things replace paper. I think it's faster and easier on the expense report for companies to comb through computer files for new employees, than to rummage through piles of paper that can get unstapled, crumpled, or lost in delivery truck accidents.

*as seen on digg.